Means for securing ceiling panels in automobiles



MaFCh 1959 o. J. POUPITCH I 2,876,971

MEANS FOR SECURING CEILING PANELS IN AUTOMOBILES Filed March so, 1955 United States Patent Ougljesa Jules Poupitch, Itasca, 111., assignor to Illinois Tool Works, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application March 30, 1955, Serial No. 497,856

6 Claims. (Cl. 248-225) The present invention relates to novel means for securing ceiling upholstery panels beneath the tops of automobiles and the like, and more particularly, to a novel clip member for mounting upholstery supporting listing bows to the frame of an automobile.

As is well known, ceiling upholstery panels have heretofore been mounted beneath the tops of automobiles and the like by securing the edges of the panel with clips or the like and by supporting intermediate portions of the panel with curved rods or bows which are passed through looped hems or lists provided in the panel and which have their opposite ends secured to opposite frame members in the automobile. Difliculty has been encountered in mounting the listing bows so as to insure proper stretching and positioning of the panel so that it will have the desired smooth and unwrinkled appearance. Therefore, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel clip for mounting listing bows to the frame of an automobile or the like so that the bows may be easily manipulated so as to stretch and position the upholstery panel in the desired manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel clip of the above described type which is adapted to mount a listing bow for relative adjustment with respect to the clip and retain the bow in the desired relatively adjusted position.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel clip of the above described type which is of simple and rugged construction and which may be economically manufactured from sheet material.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing how a ceiling upholstery panel may be mounted in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view showing a listing bow assembled with a mounting clip embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a bow positioned through a list in an upholstery panel, which bow is in a generally horizontal position from which it is to be pivoted to a generally upright finally assembled position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing a novel clip embodying one form of the present invention assembled with a frame member and with a listingbow;

Fig. 5 is a head end elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a sheet material blank from which the clip shown in Figs. 4 through 6 is formed;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a clip embodying a modified form of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing a clip embodying another modified form of the present invention; and

Figs. 10 and 11 are sectional views similar to Fig. 6

ice

and show how the clip of Figs. 4 through 6 may be modified to accommodate listing bows having different cross sectional shapes.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings wherein like parts are designated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, there is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1 an automobile top 20 beneath which an upholstery panel 22 is to be mounted. The panel is provided with a plurality of transverse looped hems or lists 24, each adapted to receive a how 26. A clip member 28 formed in accordance with the present invention is applied to opposite ends of each bow, which clip members have stud portions adapted to be inserted into apertures 30 in frame members 32 for mounting the clip members for pivotal movement.

In accordance with the present invention the panel 22 is assembled beneath the automobile top in the following manner. One end of the panel is first secured by suitable fastening devices, not shown, to a frame member or other means at one end of the automobile top. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the forward end of the panel is secured beneath the forward end of the top as at 34. Then a bow 26 is slipped through the hem 24 adjacent the forward end of the panel, which bow is the one disposed farthest to the right in Fig. 1. Then a clip 28 is slipped over each end of the bow 26, and with the bow disposed generally horizontally and so that it projects toward the secured end of the panel as shown in broken lines at the right side of Fig. 1, the stud portions of the clips are inserted into apertures in the frame members at opposite sides of the automobile top. Then the bow is swung to the upright position shown in solid line at the right side of Fig. 1 so that the forward portion of the fabric panel is stretched, and in addition, the bow is adjusted upwardly with respect to the clips so that it substantially abuts the automobile top. Afer the first lising bow has been finally positioned, another bow is inserted through the next hem and is initially assembled with the opposite sides of the automobile in the position shown in solid lines in the middle of Fig. 1. Then this bow is manipulated in the manner described above to stretch and position the upholstery panel. This process of assembling and manipulating the listing bows is repeated until all of the necessary bows have been mounted, and then the rearmost end of the panel shown in broken lines in Fig. 1 is secured to suitable means at the rear end of the automobile top as at 36 by fastening devices, not shown, and the side edges of the panel are also secured to suitable means disposed along the sides of the top by fastening devices, not shown.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 4 through 7, the novel clip member 28 will be described in detail. The clip 28 includes an elongated head portion 38 and a stud portion 40. As shown in Fig. 7 the clip is formed from a flat blank of sheet material which is preferably resilient sheet metal. Opposite longitudinal edges 42 and 44 of the head portion extend away from the stud portion and terminate in inturned flanges 46 and 48yrespectively, so as to provide guideways for slidably receiving flanges 50 and 52 on the listing how. The clip and listing'bow when in their finally assembled positions will be substantially upright as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and in order to retain the bow against sliding down relative to the clip, the head portion is provided with a locking tab 54. This tab is joined with one end of the main body of the head portion by a flexible strap portion 56 and is normally inclined with respect to the longitudinal axes of the guideways and the listing bow as shown best in Fig. 4. In addition, the tab is provided with an aperture 58 having a configuration similar to the configuration of the bow. As a result of the inclined position of the tab, an edge portion 58 defining one side of the opening 56 faces generally upwardly and is adapted to impinge against .the listing bow and restrain downward movement of the bow relative to the clip. It should be noted that the tab and the strap are initially formed so that the tab must be sprung upwardly to permit the end of the listing bow to be inserted therethrough and into the guideways. As a result, the inherent resiliency of the material of the tab and strap maintains the edge 58 in finn engagement with the bow.

When applying the clip to the end of the bow and manipulating the bow in the manner described above, the tab 54 is manually flexed so as to permit insertion of the end of the bow therethrough and into the guideways, and the clip is slipped up on the bow until, for example, the end of the bow is disposed relative to the clip as shown in broken lines in Fig. 4. Then after the bow has been swung from the horizonal position to the upright position in the manner described above, it is adjusted upwardly relative to the clip until it is substantially against the automobile top, and the lower end of the bow in this adjusted position is shown by full lines in Fig. 4. It should be noted that as a result of the manner in which the tab edge 58 is positioned, the edge does not restrain upward adjustment of the bow relative to the clip but will prevent the bow from moving downwardly from any desired adjusted position.

The stud portion 40 of the clip includes a pair of opposed sections 66 and 62 which are struck from within the peripheral boundaries of the head portion and extend laterally from an intermediate transverse web 64 of the head portion. The stud sections are formed with arcuate cross sections so that they serve to mount the clip on the apertured frame member for pivotal movement. Prongs 66 and 68 are struck from the stud sections 60 and 62 respectively for engaging the back side of the apertured frame member securely to connect the clip to the frame member. As will be understood, the stud sections will collapse toward each other during insertion through the aperture in the frame member so that the prongs maybe snapped behind the frame member.

Fig. 8 shows a clip member 28a which embodies a modified form of the present invention and which is similar to the above described clip member as indicated by the application of identical reference numerals with the suffix a added to corresponding elements. In this embodiment, the guideways of the head portion are integrally interconnected by a looped section 70 which conforms with the peripheral shape of the listing bow, and the stud sections 60a and 62a are integral with and extend laterally from inturned flanges 72 and 74 of the guideways. The clip member 28a is to be applied to the listing bow and to the automobile frame substantially in the same manner as the above described clip 28. However, in this embodiment the above described resilient tab means for locking the listing bow in the adjusted position has been eliminated and replaced by a plurality of sets of fingers 76, 78 and 80 struck from the looped section 70 and spaced axially of the head portion by narrow bands 82, 84 and 86. After the bow has been adjusted upwardly relative to the clip member, these fingers may be selectively deformed inwardly by using a suitable tool, not shown, so as to underlie the bottom end of the bow and positively prevent downward movement of the how. If desired, an end band 83 may be indented as indicated at 90 to limit relative movement of the clip up on the bow during initial assembly and before the bow has been adjusted and one of the fingers has been deformed inwardly.

In Fig. 9 there is shown a clip member 28b embodying another modified form of the present invention, which clip member is simlar to the above described structures as indicated by the application of identical reference numerals with the suihx 1) added to corresponding elements. An important difference in this embodiment is that the inturned flanges 46b and 48b of the guideways extend back toward the main section ofthe head portion and are provided with a plurality of teeth 92 and 94 along their marginal edges. With this structure the flanges must be sprung outwardly so as to permit insertion of the listing bow into the guideways, and the resiliency of the material urges the teeth into engagement with the listing bow so as to restrain downward movement thereof from its adjusted position. Also, in this embodiment the stud portion is located at the lower end of the head portion so as better to adapt this clip for use in certain installations.

Figs. 10 and 11 respectively show clips 28c and 28d which are identical to the above described clip 28 except that the apertures in the tabs have been respectively modified so as to receive a round listing how 260 and a rectangular listing bow 26d. It will also be appreciated that the guideways in these clips and that the clips shown in Figs. 8 and 9 may be modified so as to receive round and rectangular listing bows as well as listing bows having other cross sectional shapes.

From the above description it is seen that the present invention has provided novel means whereby a ceiling upholstery panel may be easily mounted beneath the top of an automobile and the like. More specifically, it is seen that the present invention has provided simple and economical sheet material clip for mounting a listing bow and for enabling the bow to be manipulated easils to stretch and position the upholstery panel properly.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it is obvious that many structural details may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A one-piece sheet material clip for mounting a listing bow and the like to an apertured member comprising a head portion, and a plurality of complementary stud elements, said head portion including opposed elongated side sections combining together for providing elongated means for slidably receiving an end portion of a listing bow, a transverse section integrally joining said side sections, means integral with one of said sections for engaging a listing bow end portion inserted into said first mentioned means for restraining relative sliding movement between said listing bow and the head portion in one direction and for permitting such movement in the opposite direction, said stud elements extending laterally from a side of said transverse section facing away from said side sections, one of said stud elements being struck from said transverse section at a location between said side sections and being integrally joined to said transverse section along a line extending transversely of said side sections, and another of said stud elements being integrally joined to said transverse section along another line extending transversely of said side sections.

2. A clip member, as defined in claim 1, wherein said restraining means includes resilient tab means inclined with respect to said receiving means and presenting an edge facing generally in said opposite direction and engageable with said listing bow to restrain relative movement of the head portion and listing bow in said one direction.

3. A clip, as defined in claim 2, wherein said tab means has an aperture therein for receiving said end portion of the listing bow, and wherein said edge defines a part of said aperture.

4. A clip, as defined in claim 1, wherein said restraining means includes a deformable element for projecting into engagement with an axially facing surface of said listing bow.

5. A clip, as defined in claim 4, which includes a plurality of said deformable elements spaced longitudinally of said receiving means and selectively deformable into engagement with said surface of the listing bow to restrain the listing bow in various adjusted positions.

6. A clip, as defined in claim 1, wherein said restrain- 5 ing means includes a plurality of teeth facing in said opposite direction and resiliently biased against the listing bow for restraining relative movement of the head portion and listing bow in said one direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,893,729 Call Jan. 10, 1933 6 Hoegger June 12, 1934 Wright Mar. 8, 1938 Haberstump Jan. 17, 1939 Buehner Feb. 1, 1949 Brown Mar. 13, 1956 Jones Apr. 22, 1958 

